...but pending a successful test/track day tomorrow, I'll be partaking in my first motorsport event on Sunday at Snetterton.

I'll be racing a Citroen C1 in the newly formed C1 Endurance Racing Championship with some friends who make up the rest of "Scuderia Pollo Rosso". It's a new series aimed at being a cheap way into racing with low build and car purchase costs, coupled with very strict technical regs. We'll be racing around the Snetterton 300 for 4 hours with 3 of us in the team.

The closest I've come to track action before is the 2009(?) Imp National track day at Teeside Autodrome- so wish me luck! What words of wisdom can you guys share?Luckily, I'm a big fan of lists, spreadsheets and preparation, so I've a multitude of timetables, regs, final instructions, etc etc printed and organised. New drivers briefing noted, plus championship specific briefing. Scrutineering will hopefully be completed the day before. I've heard lots of "Just get your min three quali laps DONE"- before thinking you're Hamilton and steaming off after lap times.

Hope the test went well, as others have said the main thing is to enjoy it.

This may be too late for Snetterton, but if you get the chance at that track and the others that you will visit make sure you walk the track.

Most COC's will let you do it if you ask, looking at the track on foot you can see where you can't run wide and looking through and back through a corner can give a good idea of where you can and can't be on the circuit.

Most hillclimbers and sprinters walk the course and at some events you have to sign a sheet to show you have walked it, but circuit people don't always seem to do that for some reason.

Weeeeeellllll..................it was an experience! A great one at that too.

The race did not go as planned. James put in a great quali lap to get us up to P5 on the grid and had us up to P3 at the end of lap one. Alas, he had a coming together with someone just 20 minutes into the 4 hour race which bent a control arm and buckled a wheel. Thankfully, he was able to limp the car back to the garage where we diagnosed the issues and so began the sprinting up and down the pit lane to find a spare control arm. After circa 15 minutes stationary, the car was back out and we were 7 laps down.

The race was essentially "over" for us at this point but we carried on and had great fun. We were lapping very well, pretty much on the pace of the front end of the mid-field. Comparing "flying laps" over the course of the race (so ignoring safety car laps and pitstop laps), out average lap time was .012 seconds quicker than the car that finished P3! So we were certainly on the pace- not bad for a team of rookies building their very first race car.

Unfortunately, within the last 5 or so minutes, we ran out of fuel. Thankfully however, we were classified as finishers, albeit many laps down. Great experience, great effort and despite the result the three of us are really pleased- both with the on-track performance and the efforts to get the car back out on track. New wing and headlight ordered, a debt to settle for the new wishbone and various other bits of drama throughout the weekend, but I shan't bore you with the details.

And here ends the non-impness.

Last edited by skamanfrank on Mon May 08, 2017 3:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.